by Scott M Gleeson, USA TODAY Sports

by Scott M Gleeson, USA TODAY Sports

Doug McDermott pumped his fist, clapped his hands and screamed at the top of his lungs.

By his eccentric reaction, you'd think Creighton had just reached the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament.

"Yes!" he shouted after the final buzzer sounded, solidifying the No. 11 Bluejays' first Missouri Valley Conference road win of the season.

"Is it bad sportsmanship? No. I love that will to win, a player who treats every game like his last," Illinois State coach Dan Muller said after his team's 79-72 loss to the Bluejays. "He fights, he's tenacious, he's versatile and can score in different areas on the court. Is he the best player in the country? That's a question worth asking."

Creighton coach Greg McDermott shook his head laughing when he was asked another coach's bold question.

"That's interesting," the elder McDermott said in a proud fatherly tone. "No comment."

As a coach, McDermott wouldn't label his 6-foot-8 son as anything other than a player on his 16-1 team. As a father, he gushes with pride, recalling pick-up high school games when Doug wasn't picked by a team for 5-on-5 YMCA-style scrimmages.

"I'll tell you how he started to get picked up, his main job was to bring Harrison (Barnes) to the gym," McDermott said. Barnes, a former North Carolina star and rookie for the Golden State Warriors, was McDermott's high school teammate at Ames High School in Iowa. "Those experiences made him one of the best players in the country. His game is crafted around other players always being better than him. He beats better players because he's used to working harder than them. You don't see his work ethic at the college level."

Now, that same player who didn't get picked in a scrimmage is in serious consideration as the national player of the year. Duke's Mason Plumlee and Michigan's Trey Burke also are favorites. McDermott scored 39 points in Creighton's recent 74-52 win against Missouri State.

"I think I'm up there, but it's hard to say I'm the best," McDermott said. "I know I step on the floor every night thinking I'm the best, because I use that confidence to help our team win.

"It's great to get the attention I've been getting, but it doesn't mean anything if we're not winning. It's about doing the little things. If players are double teaming me, I'm going to make sure my teammates are the stars of the game."

Plumlee and Burke play on the top two teams in the country and have the luxury of television exposure on a week-to-week basis. McDermott, meanwhile, plays in a mid-major league where his statistics speak volumes-but don't tell the whole story.

"Doug does a lot of good things for us, but it's always been the little things," Greg McDermott said. "He does stuff that doesn't show up in the stat sheet. For instance, he gets to the line over six times a game for us. ...I think what he does best is let the game come to him and he takes what the defense gives him without any ego or agenda. You want your best player to have that approach."

McDermott, the only returning first-team All-American this season, is averaging 23.6 points and 7.3 rebounds a game for the Bluejays. He's scored 29 points or more six times this season, pouring in 30 points in a win against Wisconsin and 34 points in a win against California.

"I thought we competed pretty well, but (Doug) McDermott was too tough for us," Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said after his team's 84-74 loss to Creighton. "He has a feel for the game. He makes other guys look like they haven't played before. He's a coach's delight."

McDermott is a coach's favorite, but it might be a stretch to call him a fan favorite. His style of play doesn't feature high-flying dunks or athletic maneuvers around the rim. Whether it's running the floor, sealing his defender in the post, boxing out for a rebound, making the extra pass, it's the fundamentals that separate McDermott. And his hustle.

"He probably leads the country in floor burns," St. Joseph's coach Phil Martelli said of McDermott. Creighton routed St. Joseph's 80-51 on Dec. 1. "He hustles like he's the eighth man on the bench trying to earn minutes."

McDermott jumped on the national radar after averaging 22.9 points and 8.2 rebounds a game last season. This season, he's been on every team's scouting report, but his teammates know there's no game plan that can be drawn up to stop him. McDermott scored a season-low five points in his team's second game of the season against UAB. Creighton still won by 17 points.

"He's one of those guys who will score 25 points and you won't even notice," said Creighton teammate Grant Gibbs. "The stories are always that his teammates are stepping up and underrated, but we win because Doug makes us all better. The games when he doesn't put up his usual numbers, you don't notice either because he's still the same player, being active. He's not an isolation player, his bread and butter is sprinting the floor, sealing defenders and having great hands around the basket. A lot of his numbers comes from how hard he works.

"I think he's the best player in the country because he works harder than any player in the country. He's not incredibly talented athletically and he's always had to work to be mentioned with some naturally gifted players. â?¦Every drill at practice, he wants to win and get better than he was yesterday. That mentality rubs off on our team."

Opponents aren't afraid to admit McDermott's prowess.

"Creighton's whole team is underrated, but you can tell (McDermott) makes the rest of the team go," North Texas' Tony Mitchell said.

"Hands down, I think he's the best player in the country," said Illinois State's Jackie Carmichael, who played with McDermott this summer at the LeBron James Skills Academy. "I definitely feel like he's a versatile player. He has the three-point shot and he's so good down low. He's not very strong, but he gets his positions and is very crafty. He's real smart and those are the hardest players to guard."

"I think he's as good as anyone I've seen," Elgin said. "He's done some things I've never seen before--the way he creates shots with the angles and the soft touch. I don't think I've seen anybody who has the touch off the glass and is such a great offensive rebounder. He's the full package. I'd vote him as the best."